All have strong Chicago comedy ties. Strong—who will join as a full-fledged cast member—was a member of Chicago’s Second City improv troupe, like celebrated alums Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Tina Fey and Rachel Dratch. She also trained at iO Chicago. Watch her in this outlandish fake commercial that is like some of SNL‘s more bizarre sketches.

Bryant studied at iO and was a member of Second City, too. She also performed with Annoyance Theatre and current SNL performer Vanessa Bayer, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. This clip of Bryant as a not-quite-right, yet somehow still adorable “entrepernerd” shows she can do quirky and compelling.

Robinson has Second City in his past—as both a stage and touring performer—and most recently performed with iO. Judging by his performance in this My Mans clip—a pilot for Comedy Central that was eventually declined—Robinson’s comedy style is over-the-top. A young John Belushi in the making?

Tim Newcomb is a journalist based in the Pacific Northwest covering sports design and technology, culture, infrastructure and entertainment. He writes for Sports Illustrated, Popular Mechanics, TIME and more.

its sad because all the funny people are leaving, i agree the 80s and early 90s were the best, but there are some great ones that have come in the past recent years.. not the whole cast, HECK NO, but yes there have been some gems! the people django listed are all amazing but they arnt new, i think what elise means is the new last couple years people.. but within the last 10 years we only get 2-3 funny people, not an amazing full cast like it used to be way back in the day

@Loise, you make $27h thats great going girl good for you! My story is that I quit working at shoprite to work online, seriously I couldn't be happier I work when I want and where I want. And with a little effort I easily bring in $35h and sometimes even as much as $85h…heres a good example of what i'm doing, Red97.c om

I quit working at shoprite and now I make $35h - $80h...how? I'm working online! My work didn't exactly make me happy so I decided to take a chance on something new… after 4 years it was so hard to quit my day job but now I couldn't be happier. Heres what I do, Blue31.com

Far too liberal now. Be nice if a bit more balanced, but the NYC influence (Bloomberg and Friends) is not to the liking of the rest of the Nation. Guess we just dont get the humor anymore. But glad to see a midwest flavor coming back to it---maybe they'll bring some working town kind of laughs with them. This over the top, Lenny Bruce kind of "huh"? stuff just isnt working.

Your nuts SNL is usually great. Sure every now and then they have bad seasons but thats when their making cast changes. It has fathered some of the greatest comidians ever. You mean to tell me Jimmy Fallon,Will Ferrell,Chris Farley,Tina Fey,Will Forte,Bill Hader,Chris Kattan,Norm Macdonald,Seth Meyers,Dennis Miller,Tracy Morgan,Mike Myers,Kevin Nealon,Chris Parnell,Colin Quinn,Andy Samberg,Adam Sandler,Horatio Sanz,Rob Schneider,Molly Shannon,David Spade,Kristen Wiig,Amy Pohler werent funny? Because thats what your saying when you say SNL isnt good past the 80s. All of these cast members were on the show from the 90s and up and have some of the greatest SNL skits of all time. Im tired of hearing these so called SNL purists say this stuff. I have seen every SNL ever made and I think the past few season have been just as good as ever. You got to sit down and watch a whole season. You cant blame a show because it has 1 bad season or 1 bad episode. SNL is a staple of pop culture and I personally look forward to it every week.

great 3 more losers, , whats with all the blood and bs, , its not funny, , looks like the jew media hyping up some hacks to tell us whats funny, , ,hey, the jew news says they are great, it must be true, , , that show sucks, , havent laughed so hard at the show in years till now when they sayhey look at these new stars, , lol, ,, hacks,